from him for a time; but one who dwelt in the 'Heaven of
Pre-existence' knew that 'Returns' could be counted upon, and was
fully assured that the gifts and graces of Kuddus had passed into
Mirza Yahya (Subh-i-Ezel). For himself he was free from
anxiety. His work would be carried on by another and a greater
Manifestation. He did not therefore favour schemes for his own
forcible deliverance.

We have no direct evidence that Yahya Khan was dismissed from his
office as a mark of the royal displeasure at his gentleness. But he
must have been already removed and imprisoned, [Footnote: _NH_,
p. 353.] when the vizier wrote to the Crown Prince (Nasiru'd-Din,
afterwards Shah) and governor of Azarbaijan directing him to summon
the Bab to Tabriz and convene an assembly of clergy and laity to
discuss in the Bab's presence the validity of his claims.
[Footnote: _Ibid_. p. 284.] The Bab was therefore sent, and
the meeting held, but there is (as Browne has shown) no trustworthy
account of the deliberations. [Footnote: _TN_, Note M, 'Bab
Examined at Tabriz.'] Of course, the Bab had something better to do
than to record the often trivial questions put to him from anything
but a simple desire for truth, so that unless the great Accused had
some friend to accompany him (which does not appear to have been the
case) there could hardly be an authentic Babi narrative. And as
for the Muslim accounts, those which we have before us do not bear the
stamp of truth: they seem to be forgeries. Knowing what we do of the
Bab, it is probable that he had the best of the argument, and that
the doctors and functionaries who attended the meeting were unwilling
to put upon record their own fiasco.

The result, however, _is_ known, and it is not precisely what